Bachstrasse site in Jena to become a science campus

Ministry of Science, University and City of Jena present plans for future use | Planned sale of the land off the table - state and university conclude administrative agreement | Development goal: teaching and research campus with a focus on life sciences

Goal: Development of the Bachstrasse site into an inner-city science campus

The Bachstrasse site in Jena will continue to be used for university and non-university purposes in the future. This was announced today by Thuringia's Science Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, Jena's Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche and the President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal, in a joint press conference on site.

Excellent research and teaching requires excellent conditions at the location,

said Tiefensee.

Our aim is therefore to develop the Bachstrasse site into an inner-city science campus.

According to University President Rosenthal

our plans are to concentrateprimarily biomedical disciplines here - pharmacy, nutrition, biodiversity, but also pharmacology, physiology and anatomy in the longer term.

For the Lord Mayor, the focus is on

We want to achieve a stronger opening of the site, which has so far been separated from its surroundings, towards the city and thus a closer integration between urban and academic life.

Bachstrasse site

The Bachstraßen site is located in the immediate vicinity of Jena's city center. It is home to large buildings from various eras that characterize the cityscape. Most of them - including two "elevated bunkers" - were built specifically for medical purposes and have been used primarily by Jena University Hospital (UKJ) to date. Nearby are residential areas, numerous university facilities (e.g. the Ernst-Abbe-Platz campus), various educational and cultural facilities and restaurants. The area covers 39,000 square meters, most of which (26,000 square meters) is owned by the state, some by the UKJ (13,000 square meters) and a small part by the Ernst Abbe Foundation (e.g. the former "Handwerkerhöfe" on Carl-Zeiss-Straße).

Successive vacating of the site by the UKJ

With the construction of the new university hospital in Jena-Lobeda, the UKJ is gradually vacating the site.

Contrary to original plans, which envisaged the sale of this state-owned property, the state is now making the site available for subsequent scientific use,

said Tiefensee:

The contiguous area in the immediate vicinity of the city and other university locations offers excellent development potential as the largest biomedical university campus in Central Germany, according to all those involved.

The sales proceeds already planned in the state budget are therefore to be raised through the sale of other properties scattered around the city, which the University of Jena no longer needs and will return to the state. To this end, the University, the Thuringian Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science concluded an administrative agreement in August 2021 in which these properties are listed. The proceeds from the sale will be used in particular to refinance a special repayment of the construction costs for the new hospital building in Lobeda amounting to 25 million euros.

Aspiration to create the best possible conditions for excellence in research and teaching

Bachstrasse, the next major university development project, underlines our ambition to create the best possible conditions for excellence in research and teaching,

said University President Rosenthal.

The investments in the site will make a significant contribution to further strengthening the University of Jena as a research-strong university in the field of life sciences and to making it one of the top German universities.

The development of the Bachstrasse site will now create new development opportunities for life science research, which will focus on the development of new drugs, biodiversity issues and concepts for healthy nutrition, among other things. This will require the upgrading of parts of the existing buildings - e.g. the conversion of the former women's clinic into an office building - as well as the construction of new buildings and extensions, particularly for laboratory space and classrooms.

Planned financing: use of funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The state is planning to use funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to finance the construction measures, said Science Minister Tiefensee. It is also being examined whether the new DLR Institute for Data Science in Jena could find its future location on the Bachstrasse site. Economic feasibility studies are currently being carried out for this purpose. In addition, further living space for students could also be created here in the future.

Development of the western city center into an authentic, urban science quarter in the city

Following the departure of the University Hospital, Jena's city policy has always focused on the development of the western city center. The state's commitment is the first important step towards developing the Bachstrasse site and thus the western city center into an authentic, urban science quarter in the city,

says Dr. Thomas Nitzsche, Lord Mayor of the City of Jena. With the possible thoroughfares as well as the gastronomic offers and student housing, the redevelopment goals of the city of Jena are also taken into account in the site development.

I look forward to the city being able to accompany the development of this flagship project over the next few years together with the stakeholders as an architectural highlight for Jena.

Pictures: FSU, Jens Meyer